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Trademark generally is for products and IP. Service mark is for services. To protect a phrase, use trademark. After it is registered with the USPTO, you can use R instead of TM, but you don't have to register it to claim/prove ownership. Recommend you browse amazon for books on trademark law

If you want to protect a trademark, you also need to start enforcing it. That means taking legal action against people that use your mark, or else you could lose it. It's a right that comes with a price.

If you want to protect a trademark, you also need to start enforcing it. That means taking legal action against people that use your mark, or else you could lose it. It's a right that comes with a price.

That's easy, since there are so many attorneys looking for work these days

All I'd have to do is catch someone with some assets using my intellectual property and go get a few lawyers and tell them all I want is for them to quit using my property and about 20% of any damages collected.

That's easy, since there are so many attorneys looking for work these days

All I'd have to do is catch someone with some assets using my intellectual property and go get a few lawyers and tell them all I want is for them to quit using my property and about 20% of any damages collected.

In addition to enforcing it, which demonstrates that you are making attempts to claim ownership, the more important task is to use it properly yourself. You can easily dilute the trademark and therefore, the equity in your brand by using it improperly/haphazardly/flagrantly. Large corps have trademark usage guidelines --- even some apply to phrases.

This topic could easily digress so, am leaving it at that. You could save some money and talk to a paralegal who works with trademarks - to get basic understanding and do's/don'ts.